A hodge podge of adventures and mishaps our family survives and enjoys!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Forensics State Championship in Harrisonburg, Virginia April 2010

It was that time of year again! Forensics Season! Ian once again dazzled the competition with his gift of gab and not only did he qualify for Nationals, he made it to State! Here is contemplating his upcoming competition!!

Ian's category in Forensics is Extemporaneous speaking. This means, he is given a topic and has 30 minutes to research (through magazines and books and his brain- no computers allowed) and develop his speech that will be 7 minutes long. No more than 7 minutes otherwise he will be docked points!

While Ian competed, we were not allowed in the room where Ian competed. There are mostly just a few judges and Ian said he would feel nervous if we were in the room while he presented his topic and spoke!
So, John and I took this opportunity to explore some of the tiny towns around Harrisonburg! We went to a town called Dayton and I spied this sign. Kind of made me chuckle!

John found a very cool book store just around the corner from the cool sign. I found quite a few quaint stores as we explored! Dayton is home to quite a few of the more, strict Menonnite brethern. We did see a man putting his buggy away but none driving around town this time.

We checked back in with Ian...he finished the first three rounds....we wait for them to determine who would make it to the final round! This is THE most nerve wrecking time! Can you tell by Ian's face!!??

The rest of the team and parents wait...nap...snack...and chat....while we wait!!!!!!

Josh, Taylor and ian chat a bit while we....wait!!!!

Ian made it to the final round! He was off!! He left to gather up the topic they assigned him and do his research!!! More waiting!! Last year, Ian placed 5th in State. This year just at the state competition alone he competed against 12 other people!!

Josh and Ian! Two peas in a pod! Josh and Ian have been buds since second grade!

Ian took 4th in State!!! Ian auditioned for a position on the George Mason University Forensics Team! Cross your fingers he is selected!!

Well we figured out why the man was putting his buggy away! Snow was forcasted! We woke up to 3 inches of snow on the ground! Here is a picture of the town square in Harrisonburg, VA.

A cannon that John wanted a picture of In Harrisonburg.

Look at this snow covered field. Looks like it snowed in stripes! It was the cut of the crop I expect but it looked pretty cool!! Like God painted the fields cuz he got bored with just shaking the snow on the ground!

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Hi there! welcome to our blog! I created this blog to help keep in touch with our vast number of family and friends across these United States and the world. It's my hope to document the adventures we have. Having two teenaged sons, we have some adventures! We hope that you will enjoy our blog and being a part of our lives! Please feel free to leave a comment and say hello!